Library lady leaves no page unturned, scouring children's book shelves for exceptional animal stories to charm, delight, and enlighten readers of every age.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Color of Love

Once upon a time neighbors swapped stories and traded pictures over the backyard fence. Today, even rural neighbors with special news to share are worldly enough to turn to the internet, where they can reach a much wider audience. The children's book "Little Pink Pup" grew from a series of pictures posted on the world wide web by JoHanna Kerby, a farm family mom from West Virginia whose children raise all sorts of critters for 4-H and FFA projects. The Kerby's pet dachshund Tink was truly a mother hen at heart, having delivered a pup of her own and fostering several others. At the same time, twelve piglets were born to a sow out in the barn. Seeing the runt of the litter with no chance to feed, the Kerbys literally took matters into their own hands, bringing the premature porker into their home and right to Tink, who didn't bat an eye at finding a little pink pup posted at her belly. "She licked him and fed him and tucked him in close. She made him feel right at home." The brown puppies were equally nonchalant regarding the rosy newcomer at their side, eating and sleeping and cuddling and playing with him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And what about nature versus nurture? Pink totally took to sleeping on soft comfy blankets and running around the house. He even preferred puppy chow over regular pig "cuisine". But at bath time, Pink showed his true colors, squealing and kicking up a respectable fuss. Otherwise, Pink never threw his weight around, but sheer size dictated his relocation back to the barn; however his beloved doggy bed went with him (no word on whether the other pigs clamored for a PetSmart bedroom makeover). "Little Pink Pup" presents full paged photos that any mother would be proud of, and any animal lover will delight in.

About Me

Philly girl transplanted to Maryland's Eastern Shore following a 12 year "damned Yankee" dalliance in South Carolina. A nice Jewish girl whose emerging zen yenta tendencies have detoured, but not entirely derailed, the eternal guilt trips that even a lifetime of shlepping through the diaspora have not dispelled.